Renourishment moving south on schedule

By Rick Catlin
Islander Reporter

Twilight's last draining
Crews from Goodloe Marine worked through the late evening hours one day last week to keep Anna Maria Island beach renourishment on schedule. Islander Photo: Courtesy Tom SprengerClick to enlarge

Renourishment of Anna Maria's Gulffront beaches is on schedule, according to Larry Chapman of Goodloe Marine, the Apollo Beach-based company dredging the sand for the project.

"Things are going good," Chapman said, although the storm on Sunday, Aug. 7, halted operations for about eight hours.

"We must have had 60 mph winds out there during the storm," Chapman said. For the safety of the crew and the equipment, operations were halted until the storm had passed. "But we're back up and running now and pretty much on schedule."

This past weekend, crews moved the pipes down to 65th Street in Holmes Beach and shortened the beach area blocked off from the public by about 2,000 feet, he said. The fenced area may, however, have to be expanded later this week as more pipe sections are added, he said. "But we'll try not to make the fence too long or keep it in one place longer than we have to," Chapman pledged.

Currently, the fenced area runs from the beach at 66th Street to near the 62nd Street beach access.

Get breaking news

Sign up to receive breaking news alerts
via e-mail. We'll send you a notice when the news and classifieds
appear online every week, before the print edition hits the streets.